Submersible pump sealing means



May 27, 1941. J. B. HAWLEY, .JR

SUBMERSIBLE PUMP SEALING MEANS l Filed July 2s, 195s Patented May 27, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT oFEIcE SUBMERSIBLE PUMP SEALING MEANS John B. Hawley, Jr., Minneapolis, Application July 23, 1938, Serial No. 220,933

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a portable pump and particularly to such a pump which may be operated either submerged in the liquid to be pumped or outside of said liquid. The pump is further of the electric motor driven centrifugal or rotary type. Such pumps are generally used for pumping liquid from the holds of vessels, from mines and other places where it is convenient to lower a pump into the liquid to be pumped.

It is an object of this invention to provide a pump of 4the submersible type having a novel and eicient form of sealing means to prevent entry of Water into certain parts thereof.

It is another object of the invention to provide a submersible pump having a propeller and a driving shaft therefor with a novel and efflcient sealing means inwardly of said propeller.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a submersible pump having an inner chamber through which the driving shaft passes, an impeller secured to said shaft, said pump having an outer chamber through which water is forced by said impeller and a novel and eicient sealing means for said inner chamber operating with said shaft.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a pump of the submersible type havingK` a motor chamber, a motor shaft projecting from s'aid chamber and a novel and eflicient sealing means for said motor chamber.

I tj'is still further an object of the invention to provide a pump of the submersible type having a vmotor chamber, a propeller chamber and a sealing chamber between said motor andpropeller chambers with a novel 'sealing means in said sealing chamber. l

These and` other objectsv and` Y'advantages' of the 'invention 'vwill beV fully setIforth in the Vfcllowing description' made in connection with the accompanying fd'rawing, in which like reference shown as substantially cylindrical, the same having an outer wall |5a and an inner wall |5b, said walls forming an annular chamber |5c therebetween and said inner wall forming a central chamber |5d therein. An. end member or suction nozzle I6 is secured to the inlet end of casing |5, said member being of tapering form toward its outer end and having a cylindrical exteriorly threaded inlet portion I6a at its outer end of much less diameter than casing I5. Member I6 has a plurality of recesses about the sides thereof forming short flange portions |617 apertured to receive headed screws threaded into the end of casing I5 and which secure member I6 to casing |5. Member I6 has on its inner side helical distributing plates |6d cooperating with an impeller to'be later described. Casing I5 is provided in its end and adjacent its outer side with an annular groove and member I6 has a projecting annular rib |6c fitting into said annular groove and engaging a gasket I8 seated in said groove. Gasket I8 is compressed in said groove by the rib |6c so that a uid-tight joint is formed. A motor I9 is disposed in chamber |5d, the same comprising a stator I9a and a rotor |9b. Said stator fits against the wall |5d and is engaged at one end by a cup-shaped member 2|) and at its other end by acup-shaped member 2|. One or more keys 22 are tted in the inner end of member 2|] and also in the stator ISa so that said members are keyed together. Casing I5 is provided withv a plurality of recesses |56 at its outer side, there being only a thickened portion of wall between the bottom 'of these recesses and chamber |5d. Said portionl of wall has an inwardly tapered threaded opening into Chamfber' |5d and headed drain plugs 23 are threaded charactersfreferto'similarparts throughout the several views andfinwhich: .Y I

' is a central' Vertical V section through the mainwportion of lthe DIARP, y i fFig. 2k is a. partial viefwsimilar to Fig. 1 shown on an enlarged scale; 'e f lFigl.`31i's`` a view in d ielevationas seen from the 1an ofrig. 1';`

Eig. ills lav'iewin end Velevation of xsome of the parts .yshc'nwn'4 in Fig. 2; f

ingV afmain or central casing" portion 15,' ,'While this portionmight 'be fof variousL forms," in vvthe embodiment of 'theffinvention` illustrated lt is into said openings, one of said drain plugs hav;- ing its endY extending'into an opening 20a in member 20. Said latter ldrain plug therefore functions'jto prevent'rotationfof'member 20. It will' be 'noted that the headsr 'of drain plugs 23 aredisposed infreces'ses |5ej`andjare thus',y p'r'o'- tected, frombeingr "struck by any object when the Dump l's 'being suspended. Wall 5b is'provided in itsfinner side kwith 'annular' slots in .which arejdisposed snap ringsA 24 'and/2 5. Saidl rings are substantially",cylindricalbut open at one point sothat they can becompressedand linfserted'` into c said' slots and* will remain therein by their expansive velastlicity'or resill 1t will be noted. .that 'member zl has a reduced portion extending'along the inner si'vde of snap ring 24A and -thusshas al yshoulder, formed thereon engaging the inner silde'of vsnap ring 2Q.

Any outward stress on member 2| is thus taken by snap ring 24 and transmitted to the casing wall |5b. Just at the outer side of snap ring 24 member 2| is soldered to the inner Side of wall |5b by solder 26. which is preferably silver solder. Member 2| has an inwardly projecting central portion bored to receive and have secured therein a bearing 21 illustrated as of the ball bearing type. A shaft 28 is secured to the rotor |9b by a long key 29, said shaft having a slightly enlarged portion between the end of rotor |9b and bearing 21 and having a reduced portion journaled in said bearing so that a shoulder on said shaft engages the inner side of bearing 21 which thus takes the outward or downward thrust of said shaft. A cup-shaped member or housing 30 has an open inner end with a groove formed therein fitting over an annular outwardly projecting rib |5f on the outer end of casing I5 substantially alined with inner wall |5d. Member 30 forms an annular passage |6d with member I6 constituting in effect a continuation of annular passage |5c. Member 30 has a multiplicity of radially projecting lugs apertured to receive headed screws 3| threaded into the end of chamber I5 for securing member 30 to said casing. A gasket 32 is disposed in the groove in the end of member 30 and engaged by the rib |51 so that a duid-tight joint is formed. Member 30 has a central inwardly extending portion 30a having a cylindrical bore in its outer side to form a cup-shaped recess and portion .30a at its inner side has a central hub bored to receive a, member 33 tightly fitting therein and having parallel end faces perpendicular to the axis of shaft 28. Member 2| also has a shallow bore at its outer side in which is tightly fitted a disk-like member 34 having an outer face perpendicular to the axis of shaft 28. A sealing disk 35 preferably made of carbon tightly surrounds shaft 28 and engages the outer face of disk 34. Another similar disk 36 also preferably made of carbon engages the inner face of member 33. Disk 36 has projections 36a extending radially at right angles to each other as shown in Fig. 3 and disk 35 has similar projections. A cage member 31 is provided having a central portion with an inner bore 31a fitting on shaft 28. At either side of said central portion member 31 has an outwardly projecting cylindrical shell portion 31h and each of said shell portions has formed in its end slots 31e in which are partially disposed the projections 36a. Between bore 31a and its outer side the central portion of member 31 has a plurality of cylindrical bores or holes 31d extending therethrough. Said central portion. also has a threaded bore extending' radially from the outer side of member 31 to bore 31a and said member is secured to shaft 28 by a set screw 38, a second set screw 39 also being disposed ln said threaded bore and closing the outer end thereof. Cup washers 40 of thin sheet metal surround shaft 23 between disks 35 and 36, the same facing said disks respectively and having lugs 40a thereon extending into compression coiled springs 4| disposed in the holes 31d. Holes 31d are shown as nine in number and five of the springs 4| are preferably secured at their'ends to one washer 4I while the remaining springs are secured at their ends to the other washer 4l. This facilitates handling of the springs. Each washer 4l has in its cupped side a flanged ring 46a which extends beyond the edge of washer 40 and engages the outer portion of a resilient ring n. Ring 42 has a centric portionnmng 75 against shaft 28 and this portion is cylindrical at its inner end and is clamped against shaft 28 by a ferrule 40h. Ring 42 has a flange or projecting portion at its outer side which -bears against disk 35 or 36. From the described construction it will be seen that springs 4| urge washers 40 away from each other and through the rings 40a press on t-he outer portions of rings 42 which are in turn pressed against the disks 35 and 36 respectively. There is very little outward motion of members 42 against the disks 35 and 36 and what motion there is is permitted through the flexing of rings 42. The ferrules 40h have been found to be'very important. Without these it was found that relative motion would occur between shaft 28 and rings 42 which would interfere with the proper functioning of the seal. With the present construction the central portion of ring 42 is held in fixed position relative to shaft 28 and any outward motion of the outer portionl of the ring is accomplished by fiexing of the ring. Members 33 and 34 in practice have been made of nickel and their faces which are engaged by thel disks 35 and 36 are made of some extremely hard and non-corrosive metal. In practice these disks have been coated with stellite, a, composition of cobalt, chromium and tungsten. Tungsten -carbide has also been used. The disks 35 and 36 may be made of metal but in practice it has been found very suitable to have these made of carbon. A tight seal is thus effected designed to prevent the passage of any liquid through member 2| or through member 3|). Another disk 43 similar to disks 35 and 36 engages the outer face of member 33 at the outer side of member 30. Disk 43 is engaged by ring 44 similar in all respects to ring 42 which is engaged at its outer side by a ring 44a similar to rings 40a. A cupped washer 45 vreceives ring 44a and is engaged at its outer side by a plurality of compression coiled springs 46 disposed in cylindrical sockets formed in the inner or upper side of an impeller member 41 having a hub secured to a slightly tapered portion of shaft 28 by a key 46. Said hub of impeller 41 has a cylindrical flange 41h extending inwardly about members 44 and 45, said flange having slots therein at right angles to each other and receiving projections on member 43 similar to the projections 36a on member 36. Member 43 is thus driven by member 41 just as member 36 is driven by member 31. Shaft 28 has a reduced threaded end beyond impeller 41 on which is threaded a closed nut 43 having an outer rounded end. A spring washer 50 is disposed between nut 49 and impeller 41. Impeller 41 has inner and outer walls between which extend a plurality of spaced vanes 41a. The inner or upper wall of impeller 41 is concave and of conical form. An auxiliary impeller 5| is disposed between member 30 and impeller 41, the same having a cylindrical hub of a size to be journaled in the bore of portion 30a. Said auxiliary impeller has a. conical wall parallel to the inner surface of impeller 41 and has a plurality of radial blades 5 la engaging impeller 41 by which it is driven. A pin 5|b connects impellers 41 and 5| so that the latter is driven by impeller 41. It will be seen that a chamber is formed within member 3l between the impeller or pump chamber and the motor chamber |5d. Casing I5 has a recess |5g in the side thereof from the bottom of which an opening `extends `into the chamber in member 30, the outer end of said opening being threaded andL receiving a threaded plug 52.` Said plug has a passage therethrough at its :casing I adjacent its outer side has an annular groove therein into which enters an annular rib 60a, formed on the end of member 60. A gasket 6I is disposed in said groove and engaged by said rib. Member 60 has a plurality of recesses about the outer side thereof forming short flange portions 60b apertured to receive headed screws or bolts 62 threaded into the end of casing I5 for holding rib 68a tightly against the gasket 6I to form a fluid-tight closure. Member 60 is4 taperedtoward its outer end and has a reduced exteriorly threaded cylindrical outlet portion 60e. As shown in Fig. 1 this portion is closed by a cap 63 threaded onto portion 60o and engaging a gasket 63 held between the same and the end of member 60. Cap 63 has secured to and projecting from its outer side a bail handle 63a. The

member 20 previously referred to has an inwardly or downwardly Aextending central portion 2Gb bored at its inner side to receive a bearing 65 shown as of the ball bearing type in which is journaled a reduced portion of shaft 28. BearingV 65 is' engaged at its upper or outer side by a disk 66 having a central portion thinner than its peripheral portion. Disk 66 is engaged centrally 'by a screw 61 extending through portion 20h, said screw having a slotted outer end and carrying a jamb nut 68 engaging the outer side of portion 28h. Disk 66 has considerable resiliency and shaft 28 is thus held with some resiliency lengthwise thereof. An annular plate 69 extends about an inner side of wall I5b and at its upper or outer side engages the inner side of snap ring 25. A plurality of circumferentially v spaced screws 19 are threaded through plate 69 and engage the outer end of member 20. Member t 20 as already stated engages the upper end of stator I9@ so that the latter is thus held longitudinally in place by screws 10. It will be noted that the snap ring 25 takes the outward or upward thrust caused by the action of screws 1I). The endwise thrust or stress of the motor is thus taken at both ends by the snap rings 24 and 25. An end cover plate 1I has an annular groove adjacent its outer edge fitting over a projection or rib I5h at the upper end of wall I5b and a gasket 12 is disposed in said groove and engaged by said projection or rib. End cover plate 1I has a plurality of lugs at its periphery apertured to receive headed screws or bolts 13 which are threaded into the end of casing I5 and hold said cover plate in plate compressing gasket 12 and forming a fluid-tight joint. A stuiing box cover 14 of conical cup-shaped form is provided having an annular groove at its inner end into which fits an annular rib or ange 12a on cover 1I, a gasket 15 being disposed in said grooveK and engaged by rib 1I a. Member 14 has a plurality of lugs at its periphery apertured to receive headed bolts or screws 16 threaded into cover plate 1I and holding member 14 in place with gasket 15 compressed to form a Huid-tight joint. Member 'I4 has a. recess at one side thereof with an opening at its bottom leading to the interior of member 14, said recess being adapted to receive packing 11. 'Ihe walls of said recess are interior-ly threaded and a packing gland 18 is screwed therein compressing said 'packing about a cable cover or sleeve 19 passing through said gland and through said opening into member 14. Cable 19 covers a plurality of conductors 19a, one of which is shown as secured to the upper side of cover 1I by a screw 80 and another of which is shown clamped between nuts 8| threaded onto a rod 82 forming a -binding post and extending through cover 1 I. Rod 82 has secured thereto at the inner side of cover plate 1I a plurality of conductors 83 held in place thereon Iby nuts 84 and passing through an insulating bushing 84a in member 20. An insulating bushing 85 surrounds rod 82 and is tightly fitted in cover 1I and passes therethrough, the same being enclosed at its outer side by another insulating plug or member 86. Rod or binding post 82 is thus insulated from cover 1I. Member 60 has a cup-like projection d at its upper side adapted to receive packing 81. Member 19 passes outwardly through an opening in member '60 through the packing 81 and through a packing gland 88 threaded into portion 60d and compressing packing 81 about member 19. Gland 88 has an outer portion 88a threaded to receive a pair of headed screws 89 extending through a clamping cap 98 overlying cable sleeve 19 so that the latter is clamped in position by the clamping cap 90. Screws 89 as Well as screws I1, 3|, 62, 13 and 16 are shown as having split spring washers 9| beneath the heads thereof. Member 6I] is shown as having a ring lug 68e at one side thereof.

The pump can be conveniently transported by using the handle 63a when cap 63 is in place and the pump is not in pumping operation. When the pump is 'to be used cap 63 will be removed and the discharge hose or conduit will be connected to portion 60e. The pump can be lowered into the hold of a vessel or other desired place by a cable secured in the lug 60e. When it is desired to operate the pump the motor I9 will be started by current supplied through the conductors 19a which will be controlled by a suitable switch. Rotor I9b rotates and shaft 28 is driven. Impeller 41 is rotated and water is drawn through member I6 which water passes from impeller 41,into the annular chamber between members I6 and 39. The water is directed against the distributing vanes I6d on member I6 which assist the flow and distribution of the water and the water passes upwardly through annular chamber I5c, through the annular chamber between members 14 and 60 which alines with passage or chamber I5c and the water then passes out through the end of member 60 and is discharged in the desired place by the attached conduits. The auxiliary impeller 5I is driven by impeller 41 and discharges any liquid which may have passed intothe cylindrical chamber in portion 30a. Since the average effective diameter of the auxiliary impeller 5I is greater than the average diameter of the main impeller 41, the fluid pressure on the seal member 43 is either zero or less than zero or in other words there is a partial vacuum in the chamber in portion 30a. This vacuum reaches about five pounds when the pump is operating at zero pressure and is at zero when the pump discharge is shut on. It will be seen from this that the auxiliary impeller 5I thus acts to draw out any liquid from portion 30a and will draw out and discharge any ne particles of dirt or foreign matter work through the running t `between the cylindrical portion of impeller 5I and the bore which might in portion 30a. When the pump is running, therefore, there is no tendency for the liquid to pass into the chamber in portion 30a and thus to Work past the seal members 43 or 36. It will be seen that by having the auxiliary impeller 5| that the pressure on the sealing members 33 and 34 is substantially zero and that there is a negative pressure on these members at all times when the pump is operating or when the motor is running. The seals are subjected to a maximum pressure equal to the submergence pressure when the pump is not running. The auxiliary impeller thus constitutes means for limiting the pressure on the sealing members to a small percentage of the discharge pressure of the pump. v

It will be noted that by having the springs 46 housed in the impeller 41 the structure is made quite compact lengthwise of shaft 28. This eliminates extra parts and saves space lengthwise of the pump. This is highly important since the shaft overhang from the lower bearing 21 must be kept as short as possible. It is also pointed out that members 30 and I6 each has one single annular sealing gasket. This results in a structure where both gaskets can be kept tight. It is quite difficult to have two parallel gaskets on one part and keep both tight. The inner gasket 32 is quite inaccessible and it is all the more important to have this gasket kept tight. Members 6U, 1| and 14 also have only a, single gasket and the above remarks apply to these members. Gaskets |60, 32, 60, 1| and 12` are of resilient material, preferably containing cork. Members I6, 30, 60, 1| and 14 are drawn down to a metal to metal contact at the sides of the gasket grooves thus assuring concentric assembly, the engaging edges being disposed in planes perpendicular to the central axis of the parts. The member 14 forms a terminal chamber independent of the chamber within member 1|. This forms a convenient chamber for the distribution of the conductors and a convenient connection for a ground conductor for grounding the casing is made by the screw-80. A tight and insulating seal is made by the telescoping members 85 and 86 which are clamped on member 1| by the nuts 84 and 8|. The cable member 19 is flexible so that no strain is put on member 14 by any exterior stresses on the cable. Should any Water leak into the chamber in member 14 about the cable, this water can a be removed by removing member 14 without removing member 1| and thus breaking the seal into the motor chamber. By having the recesses |5e and |5g the plugs therein are protected from striking exterior objects in the handling of the pump. Should the pressure in the chamber between members 2| and 30 exceed the outside pressure and any water be in said chamber it will lift ball valve 53 and pass out through plug 52. The pressure within member 30 therefore cannot exceed the exterior or submergence pressure plus the pressure of spring 54.

The motor unit is held by members 20 and 2|. These members react against the snap rings 24 and 25 so that the end thrust is taken by the casing wall. No end thrust of the motor due to holding it in place or due to expansion and contraction of the parts due to temperature can place any pressure on member 1| and thus cannot affect the seal between member 1| and wall |5b of the casing. It should also be noted that no endwise pressure is exerted on the solder 26 since the end thrust of member 2| is taken by snap ring 24. The action of screw 61 on resilient disk BB places a slight Atension on shaft 23. This prevents any axial displacement of the shaft which might disturb the accurate positioning of the sealing disks 35, 36 and 43 or which might disturb the proper positioning and clearances of the impellers. The yielding tension on shaft 28 also acts to prevent any hammer effect due to a shock to the pump due to dropping or other cause.

It is pointed out that since sealing members 36 and 43 are urged in opposite directions against member 33 that one of these members will be urged to sealing position by the pressure Whether the pressure is positive or negative in the chamber within member 30. The springs of one of the sealing members will thus always act with the pressure. It is impossible to balance or adjust a spring pressure for a wide range of positive and negative pressures. With .the described arrangement as above stated one seal always acts with the pressure whatever the pressure in the adjacent chamber. By having member 33 made with parallel sealing faces this part can be made with extreme accuracy. This results in a very efficient seal.

By having gland member 88 constitute the cable clamp the necessity for a separate or auxiliary cable clamp is eliminated.

From the above description it is seen that applicant has provided a Very simple and highly efficient pump. The pump is designed to Withstand the rigorous use to which it is put when submerged at considerable depths. The motor is protected from the liquid to be pumped and is mounted in a very eicient manner. The parts are al1 contained within the outer wall of the casing. The pump has been amply demonstrated in actual practice, found to be very successful and efficient and is being commercially made.

This application is a continuation in part of applicants copending application S. N. A91,484, filed July 20, 1936, for all parts common therewith.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, ar rangement and proportions of the parts, without departing from the scope of applicants invention, which generally stated, consists in a device capable of carrying out the objects above set forth in the parts and combinations of parts disclosed and defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is: v

l. A sealing structure having in combination,

a shaft, spaced members through which said shaft passes having at adjacent faces, spaced disks of hard material surrounding said shaft and having their remote faces engaging said first mentioned faces respectively, a member having a central bore in which said shaft fits, said member being secured to saidy shaft between said disks and having driving engagement with said disks, resilient members secured to said shaft adjacent each disk and having portions extending radially with terminal portions extending toward and engaging said disks at points spaced from said shaft, annular members engaging said resilient members opposite said terminal portions, cup-shaped members in which said annular members are connected and a plurality of circumferentially spaced compression coiled springs held on and engaging the adjacent sides of said cup-shaped members to press said disks outwardly against said first mentioned faces respectively.

` 2. A sealing structure having in combination, a shaft, spaced members through which said shaft passes having flat adjacent faces, spaced disks of hard material surrounding said shaft and having their remote faces engaging said first mentioned faces respectively, a shell disposed between said disks having cylindrical end portions notched to interiit with said disks to drive the same, said shell having a central hub bored to receive said shaft, means securing said shell to' said shaft, said shell having a plurality of circumferentially spaced bores thereinextending parallel to said shaft, resilient members secured to said shaft adjacent said disks and having portions extending radially and then toward said disks respectively, means engaging the outer portions of said resilient members at the sides remote from said disks and a compression coiled spring disposed in each of said latter bores'engaging said last mentioned members to press the same away from each other and press said disks against said first mentioned faces.

3. A sealing structure having in combination, a shaft, spaced members through which said shaft passes having at adjacent faces, spaced disks of hard material surrounding said shaft and having their remote lfaces engaging said firstv mentioned faces respectively, a shell disposed between said disks having cylindrical end portions notched to interfit with said disks to drive thesame, said shell having a central hub bored to receive said shaft, means securing said shell to said shaft, said shell having a plurality of circumferentially spaced bores therein extending parallel to said shaft, resilient members each having a hub surrounding said shaft, means for clamping said hubs to said shaft, said resilient;

shell having cylindrical chambers at each end in' which said resilient members, washers and cupshaped members are disposed and having circumferentially spaced bores extending therethrough in which said springs are disposed.

JOHN B. HAWLEY, J R. 

